So much for the spirit of European co-operation. The scramble for posts in the new EU commission has been as selfish as ever. Each member state has eyed its own advantages. Is a minor portfolio now worth trading for a shot at the European Central Bank presidency later? Or, in Britain's case, is a low-profile foreign policy chief more useful than one of the big economic portfolios? The result has been an international cabinet reshuffle of the least inspiring kind, with commissioners appointed because of where they come from, not because they might be good at their jobs. The lineup was announced last week and the press have made much of France's seizure of the internal market post. Less attention has been paid to the unfortunate downgrading of Neelie Kroes, the Dutch competition commissioner who is moving to digital communications. She proved one of the outstanding successes of the old commission, fearlessly taking on big powers such as Britain and Germany over bank and car industry bailouts. She relishes her steely reputation – "extraordinary, prickly, focused, like hugging barbed wire", one City insider is reported to have said – and used her post to order the breakup of big banks such as RBS that survived thanks to state aid. The banks, unsurprisingly, did not like this. They may not find the new competition commissioner, a Spanish socialist, any more sympathetic. But he is unlikely to stand and fight big commercial interests with the courage shown by Ms Kroes.